id not report
well of the 'Roman Catholics,' but, on the contrary, deposed that they
had once had power and had abused it. ... Such were the Catholics in
England, found in corners, and alleys, and cellars, and the housetops,
or in the recesses of the country; cut off from the populous world
around them, and dimly seen, as if through a mist or in twilight, as
ghosts flitting to and fro, by the high Protestants, the lords of the
earth." ("The Second Spring.")

This it is from which we are keeping holiday; but for us it can be only
a half holiday, the sifting process is always at work, the opposition of
the world to the Church only sleeps for a moment, and there are many who
tell us that the signs of the times point to new forms of older
conflicts likely to recur, and that we may have to go, as they went on
the day of Waterloo, straight from the dance to the battlefield.

CHAPTER VII.

MATHEMATICS, NATURAL SCIENCE, AND NATURE STUDY.

"The Arab told me that the stone
(To give it in the language of the dream)
Was "Euclid's Elements"; and "This," said he,
"Is something of more worth"; and at the word
Stretched forth the shell, so beautiful in shape,
In colour so resplendent, with command
That I should hold it to my ear. I did so,
And heard that instant in an unknown tongue,
Which yet I understood, articulate sounds,
A loud prophetic blast of harmony."
WORDSWORTH, "The Prelude," Bk. V.

Mathematics, natural science, and nature study may be conveniently
grouped together, because in a study of educational aims, in so far as
they concern Catholic girls, there is not much that is distinctive which
practically affects these branches; during the years of school life they
stand, more or less, on common ground with others. More advanced studies
of natural science open up burning questions, and as to these, it is the
last counsel of wisdom for girls leaving school or school-room to
remember that they have no right to have any opinion at all. It is well
to make them understand that after years of specialized study the really
great men of science, in very gentle tones and with careful utterance,
give to the world their formed opinions, keeping them ever open to
readjustment as the results of fresh observations come in year after
year, and new discoveries call for correction and rearrangement of what
has been previously taught. It is also well that they should know that
by the time the newest theory reach